Welcome to the Heart of Europe

Suit & Glasses: "Who are you working for?" Syd: "Okay. Get a pen. Write this down. E-M-E-T-I-B. You got that?"
Suit & Glasses: "Yes?" Syd: "Okay, Now reverse it!"
("Alias" TV show, Season 1, Pilot Episode "Truth be Told", 2001)

Page 47: In the Eye of Rambaldi

An Alias is an assumed name. It can be a nick name used among friends, as well as an adopted name in monastic orders and fraternities. Or a call sign among secret service agents using insecure communication channels and assuming other identities in cover up operations. Usually we name our children at birth or baptism, but in some cases due to cultural difference, people may later choose a new second name for easier communication. In case of Korea you may abbreviate your first name and be only referred to with your initials when visiting Western countries. In China on the other hand, some students choose an English name when attending their first English classes, and this self-chosen alias may then stick for a lifetime. In a way, an alias is a cross-reference, another way to address the same person or thing, be it for pleasure, respect, or protection. In our lives we live several different roles, as family member, friend, neighbour, client, or working colleague. Often it is key how we address each other, either very formal by the last name or on a first name's basis. And there are nuances, there is this fine tune that can make a difference in terms of distance or trust. During Carnival and Halloween we may disguise ourselves, adopting another identity as part of a role play. Masked balls may climax in lifting the masks at midnight, revealing the true identity to the dancing partner. Also in real life it may take a while until we really come to know each other, allow a glance behind the self chosen facade. Among kids the most popular masquerades include cowboy, pirate and princess and others may be even regarded as outsiders (as my boy had to find out one year when he was the only one in a derby hat like Laurel & Hardy or Charlie Chaplin). Laughing with the crowd is much nicer than being the wallflower that is made fun of. The loner, singing "Here I go again on my own…" There are these situations when you definitely wish to be a different person. Which is when the new identity, the alias, comes back in.

Capturing Themes. Some things can capture you, be it a good book, a game or a conversation. Very passive is TV entertainment, the London Science Museum even had a print on entrance tickets saying: "Your brain is more active sleeping than it is watching television." At the same time TV can be a distraction and up to a blessing for elderly people, who find it hard to walk and read. A gateway to the wide, wide world, often placed like an altar in the very center of a living room. Not watching TV serials for decades, we had by coincidence found a show designed to bring back the thrill once felt when watching "Kojak," "The Professionals" or "The Streets of San Francisco," combined with intrigues from "Dallas," as well as almost mystically giving away its secrets in small doses as the classic "Twilight Zone" could do so well. In the US, "Alias" is an acclaimed and Golden Globe awarded show, praised as one of the most escapist hours ever for combining elements of action, soap, and cliff hangers at the end of almost every episode. "Expect the Unexpected" - the catch line from an advertisement promoting the 3rd season of the show - would suggest to be open to accept and prepare to deal with unforeseen incidents, even try some out-of-the-box-thinking yourself. Complemented by the addition "...or you won't find it" the phrase would go as far as suggesting to actively search for and approach the change, to track it down and go for it for the sake of creativity, innovation and the element of surprise. But it can be also taken as a warning from forming hasty judgements before knowing the truth in its whole complexity and ruthlessness. Things are often not what they appear at first glance, what we would like to believe. The aspects behind, withheld information, the real motifs, the amount of manipulation and the underlying master plan, if surprisingly existing in an environment of patchwork solutions, usually reveal themselves much later.


"The Show at its Heart is about a dysfunctional Family..."

Fateful Encounters. Fate may always have some twists and turns saved for us, when they are the least expected. Unanticipated gain as well as loss, as not only experienced and suffered through by the protagonists of this particular show. The main character, Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner, just lived a too complicated life toggling between her not too ordinary jobs. On the one hand serving as a spy for SD-6 (French for "Section Disparue"), the "missing section" of a criminal society called The Alliance, pretending to be a hidden branch of the CIA. After finding out, she becomes a double agent for the real Central Intelligence Agency on the other hand, trying to escape all the mess and rediscover something long lost, inner freedom. With help by a man she hardly knows, her heartlessly cool father Jack Bristow, Victor Garber at his best, the absent-minded IT-expert Marshall Flinkman, played by Kevin Weisman as a stammering-when-nervous parody on James Bond's gadget master Q, numerous disguises and well choreographed stunts there are more and more historic artefacts being collected as part of a plot cleverly mixing fact with fiction. Speaking of 007, Roger Moore would actually guest-star an episode, just like Quentin Tarantino in this hilarious spy (and not pulp-) fiction. Even guest star Faye Dunaway recognized Kevin Wiseman's creation of vulnerability with his character through the usage of inconsistent speech patters, as she proclaimed to him on the set: "I did a Marshall today... I spoke and stopped myself mid-thought and continued onto another thought!"

Run Syd Run. From the spectacular pilot episode onwards, Jen Garner is running from one impossible mission to another, right in the beginning justifying fear of the dentist and wearing a red wig in homage to the film "Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run, 1998)" with Franka Potente giving all her strength to raise money for her boyfriend in a quick cut episode film outlining several alternatives (like Bill Murray had lived through 1993 in " Groundhog Day - Und täglich grüßt das Murmeltier"), a German movie Alias-creator J.J. Abrams (not Jameson) would be a fan of. Season by season she would be back, even "Back In Black" as by the AC/DC's musical score of season 2-episode "Phase One", step-by-step bringing the bad guys down, only to see them emerge once more from the dark. Reading a companion book, "Alias Declassified" by Mark Cotta Vaz, there is one sentence that stuck: "For all its spy-genre trappings, the show at its heart is about a dysfunctional family." One of many, way too many these days. It always comes back to the relationship between this young woman and her dad, as the voice-over at the beginning of each show would put it: "My only ally is another double agent, a man I hardly know - my father!"

Truth Hurts. Sometimes the Truth Hurts is another reoccurring theme. Questions raised go a level deeper than they usually get in the genre. Answering some may raise new ones. The truth, or what we believe it to be, may change in the course of time and with the amount of information revealed. Especially Alias' 3rd season episode "Crossings," one of my favourites for introducing Ingrid Bergman's daughter Isabella Rossellini into the series (with a neat Russian-Italian accent), illustrates that appearances do deceive. It starts with a few scenes from the end, before going back in time to explain the full story behind. They show Syd and Vaughn in the cell of a North Korean prison camp. In the face of death they reveal their suppressed feelings to each other. Then they are dragged in front of an execution committee. There is a close-up view on a soldier pulling the trigger. You hear the volley fire from the machine gun... Cut!

Natural Disasters. Almost like in the story of the three Austrian prisoners that are sentenced to death by firing squad. Brought forward for execution, the first one from Styria, Arnold Schwarzenegger's homeland, screams "Earthquake." As everyone runs for cover, he escapes. The second one from Vienna, the city of music and coffee, escapes by screaming "Flood." The third one from Burgenland, the Land of Castles bordering Hungary, is brought up and as the soldiers aim their guns at him, he screams "Fire!" So much for natural disasters... But to continue with questionable wisdom from TV shows, here is another thought on that. Seeing behind the facade is sometimes hard to accomplish and in some cases better not attempted, for it could destroy the view of the world, someone got. Before pouring one's heart out and relieving one's conscience, better be aware of all possible implications. Just as before not doing it. In Sydney's father's words at the end of the 4th season show titled "The Awful Truth": "I gave your sister closure." - "But not the truth." - "Sometimes a satisfying lie, Sydney, can do more good than the awful truth."

Austrian Episodes. Vienna, Graz, Salzburg... the show is just going places and going places! Most amazing with Alias is the illusion of operations all over the world "From Burbank to Barcelona," as established by digital post production replacing filmed back ground with map paintings or stock footage from other locations. Travelling places all over without jet leg is another nice illusion though. Episode 1.18 "Masquerade" would have Sydney shaking a leg at a masked ball in Vienna. Due to a flat tire, Dixon picks her up from the dance in a horse-drawn carriage. She is reunited with the city of Vienna in episode 4.18 "Mirage," where in disguise of a red-wigged waitress she even speaks the German sentence: "Warum wollen Maenner immer, was sie nicht haben koennen - Why do men always want what they can't have?"

Lost Time. All of the exotic locales featured in Alias are in fact local to the production's home base in Los Angeles, usually within 35 miles from Disney studios in Southern California. Location Manager Mike Haro reveals: "We have gone up to Angeles Crest Highway, about 22 miles up the road from La Canada, to shoot up there. We were looking for a place to match an Austrian road." A statement that could refer to episode 3.10 "Remnants" with the ridiculously named "Hotel Verlustzeit (pseudo-German for: Lost Time)" in Graz. Possibly it was just that busy street corner meant to represent a hotel in Salzburg in episode 3.13 "After Six." During a follow up trip to a discotheque in Salzburg in show 4.11 "The Road Home," Marshall "officially raises the question: what is it with these guys and night clubs?" Still all those fabulous trips are just chicanery like the story of Milo Rambaldi. His first name, Milo, is the Greek word for apple, and while the saying goes "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," the quest for Rambaldi artefacts in the show definitely does not prove healthy. Tragedies appear, the loss of loved ones is accepted as it has to be in order to go on, friendships are made and broken again by circumstance, trust is built up and then questioned upon betrayal, a long lost parent reappearing only to vanish again.

A promotional poster for Season 3 reminds us to "Expect the Unexpected". Season 5 would try to top that by saying "Expect More!", when even the main actress's "real life"-pregnancy was written into the show.

Rambaldi's mystical manuscript page 47 reads: "This woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation." Meant to reveal it all, it still clarifies nothing, really. What remains, is the symbol of the eye <o> and a lot of fun!

Daughter substitute-father relationship? Ron Rifkin at his best as intelligence agency head and Rambaldi follower Arvin Sloane.

Nostravinci: A Medieval Seer resurfaces

Namely Milo. The Italian name Milo however refers to a sixth century soldier of extraordinary strength, which he gained from carrying a baby bull around. As the animal grew, so did his strength and he eventually became a wrestler. Just like we all can grow with the task, with stress. New assignments - another "Mission Impossible" now and then - may require all our attention, so that we can prove ourselves and at the same time detract and make forget failures and losses.

Peaceful Glory. Quite in contrary, the old German and Hebrew word "milo" stands for mild and peaceful, still present in the Italian names Milena, Emilo and the English name Miles, meaning grace, while possibly also having Slavic origin. In fact, Milo is a first name in Slovak, Czech and Russian, short for Miloslav, which assembles the Slavic elements "mil" (favour) and "slav" (glory)." It is also abbreviated Milos, or Milosz in Polish, where "milosc" would mean love. As the more common Miroslav combines "mir" (peace) and "slav" (glory), the same glory shines through little things the most. Being there for each other when in need, a favour, unconventional help, searching for a way not an excuse, a hospital visit to cheer up the ill-fated, providing support and encouragement on a fresh start, shyly exchanging a smile on a new way to happiness and finding peace.

The Rambaldi Fiction is a tale of following predestined fate versus the strength of free will. The quest for artefacts related to Italian Renaissance prophet Milo Rambaldi (1444-1496) overshadows the show up to a point where it almost becomes ridiculous. The architect, scientist and advisor of fifteenth century Pope Alexander VI (of the infamous house of Borgia during one of the church's darkest hours) had anticipated modern electronic devices. While the intention behind many of his Leonardo-like designs remained unclear, some enigmatic work and cryptic algorithms around the use of pre-binary 1's and 0's are said to have preceded elements of a "machine code" as early as 1489, long before the so called digital information age. His Nostradamus-like ability of seeing the future lead to predictions, which were among others laid down in a five hundred year old manuscript, containing clues on a Chosen One - guess who. In Jack's words: "Whether or not you believe Rambaldi was a prophet, he did anticipate technological advances, many of which seem most applicable to warfare." (Season 2, Episode 15 "A Free Agent") The life of Rambaldi ended with excommunication for the heretic declaration that science would someday allow us to know God. With his name erased from contemporary inscriptions, a hand full of plans and sketches would once in a while pop up here and there, originals only distinct from forgeries by unique water mark, the Rambaldi Eye. Fake webpages claim to support the secret order of Rambaldi and make the separation of truth from fiction even more difficult. It was disappointing to find out that Milo Rambaldi was not real but an invention himself. He is only a fictional character from a TV show with a lot of pseudo-history created around, an inventor and seer inspired by both the historic Leonardo da Vinci and Michel de Nostredame and as a consequence referred to as "Nostravinci." In fact his last name was derived from Carlo Rambaldi, a special effects artist mostly known for designing the movie "E.T." - too bad!

The mysterious Plot around Milo Rambaldi is a story of collecting historic artefacts and designs, a struggle for possession driven by obsession, up to belief. In producer J.J.Abrams' own words: "The Rambaldi element was something that allowed us to be larger than life and gave it a seemingly endless and unique series of objectives and obstacles. The detail who Rambaldi was and what he was doing was far less important than what Rambaldi did to motivate our characters and to tell out story." Following the discovery of a 500 year old manuscript and uncovering the hidden text on its page 47, the CIA arrests Sydney Bristow to keep her from fulfilling Milo Rambaldi's prophecy. (Season 1, Episode 16 "The Prophecy") Here is its text:

"This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks. Signs that she will be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury. A burning anger, unless prevented. At vulgar cost, this woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation. This woman, without pretense, will have had her effect, never having seen the beauty of my sky behind Mt. Subasio. Perhaps a single glance would have quelled her fire."

Speculations continue, whether or not she is the Chosen One. (Season 2, Episode 22 "The Telling") Another mystery unravels around the search for the so called Passenger. (Season 3, Episode 11 "Full Disclosure") "When blood-red horses wander the streets and angels fall from the sky..." their clash proves instrumental to prevent Armageddon. (Season 4, Episode 22 "Before the Flood")

All-Seeing Symbol. The Rambaldi Eye is introduced as a sign of the prophet and his followers. It is simply represented by a less than and greater than sign around the lowercase letter "o". An interpretation of its symbology says that its outer markings represent two daughters and "the center is the object over which they will do great battle with each other." The prophecy would be fulfilled towards the end of the 4th season. (Season 4, Episode 8 "Echoes") After an endless series of masterful manipulation and countless recovery missions the full dimension of Rambaldi's end game reveals itself bit by bit up to the climax of the show. (Season 5, Episode 17: "All The Time In The World")


Devoted Followers despite Late Evening Ban

Alias in Wonderland, you could call the parallels between Alice's journey and Sydney Bristow's stunning trip through five seasons of intriguing cult TV between September 2001 and May 2006. While the series had never been a top ten show in the ratings, it undoubtedly had a devoted following. Fans have watched Alias for its incredible plot twists, threatening international conspiracies in a post 9/11-environment or the campy soap aspect of the main character's world. And some may have been in it for the leather pants. Background information discussed in books like "Alias Assumed" and "Investigating Alias" has inspired this recap. And a revelation in the fourth issue of "The Official Alias Magazine," where J.J.Abrahams is quoted: "It obviously is deliberate that we are making plays on Alice in Wonderland." An example is the climatic fight in the season two finale: Sydney fell through a mirror (a looking glass), after which she awoke to a world turned upside down. Finding herself in Hong Kong with missing memory of the past two years, she called in to the CIA using the codeword "Confirmation: Looking Glass." One of several allusions to Syd's faviourite book from childhood, a 3rd edition of which she once more receives as a present from Weiss towards the end of the 3rd episide of the 3rd season, titled "Reunion."

Mountaineer's Mythology. As part of a series-long mythology, Rambaldi's inventions would add an element, which can be perceived as futuristic and ancient at the same time. Similar to Greek oracles, his prophecies represent a mode of communication between mortals and the god. Similar to Alice, Sydney seems at times to be led in certain directions. But her viewpoint is limited, as she is mostly following orders and is not casting large plans like her mother. Scaling a mountain to avoid being the women in the Renaissance prophecy literally makes her the "Mountaineer," reflected in her changed CIA call sign. Just as she rises like a "Phoenix" from the ashes of her lost years, which would become likewise her APO call sign in season four. We may relate to Syd's attempt to find out, who she really is, where her destination lies among the many roles in life somewhere between shy graduate student, fiancee and master spy. The show's writers reinforce the fractured identity theme by depicting Sydney as good girl/bad girl split personalities, in frequent undercover missions tapping into fantasies of dangerous female attraction and power. She seduces as frequently as she assaults.

Unpredictable Pain. As for parental guidance, oddly enough her career decision brought her alienated father back into her life. By the example of Jack, a father's love and approval is never freely given, but instead either unpredictable or conditional. In his dangerous profession, his inscrutability represents his main advantage. Per social values, a mother may be expected to be kind and nurturing, to sacrifice her time and plans for the sake of the children. Therefore Irina's emotional absence in the show is blamed more harshly than the father's, who didn't have similar expectations to fulfil. Her main deceit always remains, having created a home based on the sheer illusion of sanctity, safety and piece, while in reality using it as a facade for betrayal in form of spying for another nation. A significant and recurring theme on Alias is: We always hurt the ones we love.

The Success Story of the Alias-show varied quite a bit among its seasons and releases in different markets. Like a comic book, especially in its first season Alias would be filled with huge action scenes, despicable villains, exotic locales, intense character development and irritating cliff-hangers. In the middle of the second season, by bringing down SD-6 the series reinvented itself with the episode "Phase One", which aired right after the Super Bowl on ABC in January 2003 in front of a big audience. However, the third season suffered from the absence of Lena Olin playing Syd's mother as well as its initial backward orientation on its quest to what had happened. A turnaround was achieved in the mid third season episode "Full Disclosure," as a result of which the narrative complexity of the show decreased further, as by the measurement of simultaneous sub-plots. The move would reduce complexity and make the show easier to follow for first-time viewers. Still reaching 10 million viewers in the US in its first season and once more right after "Phase One" in season two, the third season had seen the ratings drop often below 8 million per show. Even though the tragic real life events were never exploited during the show, episode director Jack Bender revealed that the opening sequence of "Facade (Episode 3.15)" with a crowd running panicked down the stairs in slow motion was inspired by the events of 9/11. The same episode became something of a blueprint for the fourth season, with its largely self-contained shows. Season four attempted to gather a wider mainstream audience, although the somewhat "dumbed down" approach shattered long-term fan loyalty. At the same time it tried to reestablish parts of the original situation, by assembling the main characters once more in a CIA-black ops organization called APO - Authorized Personnel Only. Back on air following a short materinity break, in the end the show went out virtually unnoticed with its season five finale in May 2006 pitted against the season finales of "24" and "Two and a Half Men." In the meantime "Alias"-creator J.J.Abrahams had moved on to another TV-series "Lost (2004)" and the prestige movie project "Mission Impossible III (2006)."

Top or Flop? Overseas, the show - in German subtitled "Die Agentin (The female Agent)" - faced a quite differrent perception from the very beginning. A broadcast of the first two seasons by the German TV station Pro7 in 2003 and 2004 struggled with low ratings and had to be moved from prime time into the late evening. Expect the unexpected, as you could sum up once more, and while synchronization rights blocked earlier DVD releases, the 3rd season found its way to a German speaking audience first through the Austrian ATV channel in 2005. Pro7 would ultimately deliver the 3rd, 4th and 5th seasons in midnight broadcasts between 2007 and 2008, wrapping up two years after the US-original. And so let us also wrap up this page on some of the most entertaining moments on Digital Versatile Disc, containing the triple-A's action, amotion and antertainment. Or did I misspell something again? Must be my accent.

Page 47 revisited. The Alias-TV show is full of hidden clues involving the number 47, up to a point that one could speak of truly obsessive repetition, even exceeding the same number's presence in the TV show "Star Trek: The Next Generation," where it was brought to as a campus inside joke at Pomona College in Claremont, California. It is the favourite number of the show's creator J.J. Abrams, who is a true master in creating an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Of course, there are more or less serious beliefs that the number 47 is the quintessential random number of the universe. In a religious context, in the New Testament forty-seven is also the number of miracles that are performed by Jesus Christ. Given all this background, what would have been more appropriate than publishing this "Alias"-reference as page 47 of this website...

And so it began with phase one, with crossings, reunions and tellings of the awful truth that less than 30 seconds can decide one's fate... Comfort: "Spying. Stealing. Murder. And you think your family has issues!"

The Episode "Mirage" in the fourth Alias-season features Vienna in stock footage from St. Stephen's Cathedral. In a wild bar Sydney plays a waitress, who speaks a few words in broken German, including the all-time favourite "Prost - Cheers!"

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the All-Seeing-Eye.